Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Icon to be razedHot Dog Shop coming downBy Sandy Pontius
Eagle Staff WriterThe Hot Dog Shop building, that icon of downtown Butler from 1912 to 2004, is to be knocked down on Wednesday. The demolition is set to start on Aug. 29, 2012 at 8 a.m., and will include the Reiber Building next door. The buildings, which have a 101-107 S. Main St. address, face Jefferson Street. Ken Reilly Demolition, Mars, will do the work. The demolition will make space for the craft beer brewers known as Butler Brew Works, which will be housed in the former Eckerd Drugs red brick building that faces Main Street. Eventually, the entrepreneurs plan to build a patio on the Hot Dog Shop site. “That is our intention, and maybe putting in a bocci ball or cornhole court,” said Greg Deal, a Brew Works partner. “We’re getting there slowly but surely.” Cedar Street, an alley that runs parallel to Main Street behind the Reiber Building, will be closed intermittently during the demolition, said John Evans, Butler zoning officer. Cedar Street will be used as a staging area, he said. After the demolition is completed, work on the Main Street building will begin, including roof, plumbing, heating and air conditioning improvements, Deal said. Although an end-of-year opening was planned, Deal said that is “optimistic.” It’s more likely the tap room will be open by spring 2013, he said. “The earlier we can get open the better,” Deal said. The group recently bought a 10-barrel brewing system that can produce more than 1,200 barrels of beer annually, based on a two-week production cycle. The Brew Works then must be 90 days away from opening to apply for a liquor license, Deal said. “Basically, you have to have everything set in stone,” he said. The Brew Works partners are Deal and Nick Fazzoni, both of Butler, Travis Tuttle of Bridgeville and Paul Hytla of Pittsburgh. They bought the quarter-acre parcel in January and auctioned off memorabilia from the Hot Dog Shop in the last two weeks of May to help pay for the demolition. They sold Hot Dog Shop coffee tokens, menus and signs.from the Butler Eagle